Suregrow fertiliser - laminitics?

ElleSkywalker

ElleSkywalker

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I have very little grass left after the winter, have re-seeded but even so things aren't looking good :(

Two of my horses are lami prone & one is a Shetland so the lack of grass isn't the end of world for them but I also have a yearling & 2 year old who would love some of Dr Green :(

If I fertilise (with suregrow) the 2 acre paddock the youngsters are in now, will it be ok to put my other horses in that paddock over the winter, in 5 months time or will it be too rich for them?

Experiences anyone, good or bad?
 
There's not a lot of nitrogen in Suregrow, which is the 'danger' nutrient as far as horses are concerned, and if you are only applying it once the effects will have gone by autumn anyway. Should be fine.
 
We fertilise our hay fields, then cut hay and graze the fields after they've recovered a little - I'm no lami expert by any stretch but the grass that grows back after the hay cut certainly doesn;t have the luminous/ fast growth that srping grass that has been fertilised seems to.
 
Suregrow has no nitrogen, so it's perfectly safe. It's supposed to encourage root growth as well so has a slow release effect rather than a flush of grass. My lami pony lived out all year on her little paddock treated with Suregrow.
 
Tammytoo said:
Suregrow has no nitrogen, so it's perfectly safe. It's supposed to encourage root growth as well so has a slow release effect rather than a flush of grass. My lami pony lived out all year on her little paddock treated with Suregrow.
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Good to hear :D Did you leave the pony in the paddock with the fertiliser like it says you can on the website? Or did you take pony out for a bit?
 
My pony had laminitis for the first time ever last year:( (ive owned her 21 years). She has always been in the same field and the only thing I changed last year was putting the Suregrow fertiliser on the field, never fertilised in the past so be careful applying any fertiliser to fields for laminitics. We are leaving the fields well alone this year.
 
Suregrow does have nitrogen but in a very small quanity ttp://www.suregrowuk.com/analysis
I have used it for the past four years, it thickens the grass but you do not get lush growth and it makes a real difference in August when the grass is usually burnt off.
If you are worried I would leave a diet patch and do the rest, then do that when the rest has been stripped.
 
PeterNatt said:
Never ever put fertiliser on a field that is going to be used by a horse that suffers from Laminitis. It is just asking for trouble.
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This x 100. Much better for a lami prone pony to have a bare bare paddock and be topped up with hay. You MIGHT get away with it, but why gamble with pony's life when there are alternatives? The only way I would do it is if the field was treated and then shut up until the depths of winter when all the grass was dead and effectively hay, pony could graze it then. Otherwise no....

And disagree with the other poster re hay aftermath - from a couple of days after harvesting it is rich as anything, all the young grass shoots coming up - it is used to put lambs on to fatten them v quickly while the ewes are left on the poor grazing to dry them up. it is all fresh new grass and autumn flush so is not lami safe.
 
Thanks all, think I will just put it on the back 2 acres where the youngsters are,it will be October/November before the 2 who have had lami go on it :)

Do I need to take the foals off till it has rained or is it safe to leave them on the field like the website says?
 
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